Grilled Sloppy Pimento Joes

Sloppy Joes are an easy quick fix weekday meal. It's so tasty, so simple and so quintessentially American. We love our Sloppy Joes, I always have the ingredients on hand. Tonight, I wanted to do something a little different. I not only wanted a grilled sandwich but I wanted it to be a grilled cheese sandwich. Sharp Cheddar, Sharp White Cheddar, Blue Cheese all good choices. But I decided to go a more Southern route, Pimento Cheese.

At the moment I'm a little obsessed with pimento cheese. I can't believe how ridiculously good it taste! I know it's not the best for you, but everything in moderation. So for this deliciousness, I took my favorite bread, the undisputed King of Breads (at least in my house), Sourdough! Being a San Franciscan, sourdough is in my veins. I love it over any kind of bread. It's amazing!! I took these marvelous bread slices spread a generous amount of pimento cheese, add some sloppy joe, closed it up and grilled to buttery toasted nirvana! It is crazy good. You get the saltiness and ooey gooey of the cheese and the sweet/tangy/ messy part of the joe, and oh my goodness!!!! I was so happy!

I hope you do the happy dance after trying this grilled cheese!

Buen Provecho!


Grilled Sloppy Pimento Joes - 4 servings

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef
1/4 of a large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, grated
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1-2 Tbsp McCormick Steak Seasoning (or your favorite steak seasoning)
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Pimento Cheese, use my recipe!
8 slices of Sourdough bread
1- 2 Tbsp melted butter for grilling
Salt n Pepper

Saute on medium heat onions and garlic until soft, 4-5 minutes

Crumble, add steak seasoning and salt. Cook until it looks like.....

....this, brown bits!

Add Worcestershire sauce and using a wooden spoon scrap the bottom of the pan to get the flavor bits.

Add 8oz can of tomato sauce and add salt, season to taste.

Use the tomato can to measure 8 oz of beef broth.

Add 1/4 cup packed brown sugar.

Stir until well blended. Lower heat and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes until sauce thickens.

Meanwhile, butter all the bread, flip and slather pimento cheese on all the bread.

Add sloppy joe on one side and close with another piece.

Place on a preheated griddle and cook until golden brown.

Flip cook other side.

Let it stand for a minute then cut in half.

Ready to Eat!!!

Road Map:

1. Add oil to a medium heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Dice a quarter of an onion and place in hot pan, grate garlic, add salt & pepper and stir until onions are soft, 4-5 minutes.

2. Once onions are soft crumble in ground beef, add steak seasoning and salt. With a wooden spoon crumble beef and let it caramelize to beautiful brown bits. Add Worcestershire sauce and using a wooden spoon scrap the bottom of the pan to get the flavor bits.

3. Once beef is browned, add tomato sauce, beef broth & sugar. Stir until combined, lower heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Check for seasoning. Add more salt or sugar if needed.

4. Place a griddle on medium heat. Brush melted butter to all 8 slices of bread. Turn over and slather pimento cheese on all 8 slices. Add about 1/4 cup or less of sloppy joe, close it with another bread, put on the grill.

5. Grill until golden, 2 - 4 minutes each side. Let it rest for about a minute & cut in half. Enjoy!!

Krispy Kreme Burger

I know that I'm years behind on this trend, but I've always been curious about this unusual pairing. I just never had both items around the house at the same time. Because of the ridiculous calories this burger would entail, I just couldn't see myself seeking it out, despite my curiosity. So how did this moment come? It went down like this....

We found a Groupon for Krispy Kreme, bought it, got them and have a lot leftover. We had ground meat in the fridge, already defrosted (for a different meal), just needing to be cooked.  Serendipity,  Krispy Kreme and Ground Beef under the same roof at the same time. I couldn't ignore this opportunity so here we go.....

I made a basic burger. No frills, no extras, a simple cheeseburger. Meat, cheese, tomato, lettuce. I wanted to be able to taste all the different components.

I mixed the meat, with McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning and Worcestershire Sauce. This combo is my go to quick meat seasoning, I put it on basically every meat dish. Add a little salt and pepper and that's it. Pretty simple.

I shape the burgers, cook them 4-5 minutes on each side. To melt the cheese I add a bit of water into the pan and cover immediately. The water creates a steam that melts the cheese evenly. A little diner tip I picked up on Food Network. It works every time!

Cut the donut in half with a serrated knife, place burger on bottom bun, lettuce, tomato and then top.  What you end up with is a crazy good All American Burger. The sweet and savory mix that this burger brings, is distinct and delicious. The tomato and lettuce gives it the freshness it needs to offset the richness of the bun.  The burger is a little sticky but that's just part of the experience. This burger is juicy, savory, sticky, a bit sweet and fresh. It's never to late to have a Krispy Kreme Burger.

Buen Provecho!

Main Players

In a bowl mix ground meat, steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper.

Form into 4 patties.

Form patties, making sure each one is thinner at the center and thicker at the edges for even cooking.

Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side.

In the last 1-2 minutes of cooking, add the cheese. Pour a bit a water into the pan.

Cover immediately, allowing the water to create steam ensuring evenly melted cheese.

Melted perfection!

Split buns with serrated knife.

Time to eat!!!

Krispy Kreme Burger - Yield 4 burgers

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef
3-4 Tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning, or your favorite seasoning
2Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Salt n Pepper
4 Krispy Kreme original glazed, split
4 American, slices
Lettuce
Tomato

Oil, for pan frying

Road Map:

1. In a medium bowl mix together ground beef, montreal seasoning, worcestershire & salt n pepper. To ensure proper seasoning roll up a small piece into the size of a quarter and cook. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

2. Add oil to a medium pan on medium heat.

3. Divide meat into 4 equal pieces. Form patties, making sure each one is thinner at the center and thicker at the edges for even cooking.

4. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side. Top each patty with cheese during the last 1-2 minutes of cooking. Pour a splash of water into the pan and immediately cover to help the cheese melt evenly. 

5. Using a serrated knife split the donuts in half. Assembly burger. Bun, Burger, Lettuce, Tomato, Bun. 

6. Enjoy!!!

Pasta Carbonara

 My hubby's favorite cuisine is Italian. He loves spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, ravioli, tortellini, particularly any pasta dish. He had never had carbonara. This is a crime. He needed to try this deliciously creamy dish. One of the many things I love about carbonara is that you don't need tons of ingredients. Spaghetti, garlic, bacon, parmesan and eggs are the basics. Traditionally in place of bacon is pancetta, but I love the smokiness of the bacon. The other liberty I've taken is added cilantro in place of parsley. I'm Latina and I love cilantro, it's my parsley, but feel free to use what you like, that's the best part of cooking you get to be creative!  

Regardless of what herb or bacon you use this dish is the most decadent plate of pastas I've had. I recently got the opportunity to visit Rome, bucket list check, and had the pleasure of tasting Carbonara in it's home country and it was amazing! This recipe brings me back.

Carbonara is a simple dish with a bit of technique, nothing hard I promise.  Just follow the road map and you to will find yourself in Rome.

Buen Provecho!

Spaghetti

garlic, 1-2 cloves

Egg Mixture, eggs, parmesan, salt, pepper

The best sound, crisping bacon.

Lovely bits of goodness.

Creamy Carbonara. Yum!!

Pasta Carbonara: yields 4 serving

Ingredients:

1lb spaghetti
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1-2 garlic, minced
4-5 slices of bacon, chopped
handful of Cilantro & Parsley, chopped
Salt n Pepper to taste

Road Map:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2.  Place a small pan over medium heat. Crisp up bacon and drain bacon on paper towel. Reserve bacon fat.

3. When water comes to a roaring boil add a handful salt and spaghetti. This is your only chance to season the spaghetti. Cook until al dente,  about 7-10 minutes.

4. In a bowl mix eggs, Parmesan, salt, pepper and herbs. Set aside.

5. Once spaghetti is done, reserve 1 cup of spaghetti water, drain pasta.

6. With a microplane grate garlic to pan with bacon fat, careful not to burn garlic. You only want to infuse fat with garlic.

7. Add spaghetti to bacon fat making sure to cover each strain with bacon fat. Remove from heat. 

8. Whisk a 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water to eggs, this tempers the eggs to avoid scrambled eggs.

9. Add egg mixture into spaghetti and coat. Add reserved bacon & serve.

10. Sprinkle chopped herbs & extra parmesan if you like.

11. Enjoy!! Buen Provecho!